what is going on here is inexplicable, and terribly dispiriting to people who thought that J Street was going to make a useful contribution to the debate over the future of Israel.
From the Wall Street Journal:
...J Street’s filings show that the largest single contribution, in the sum of US$811,697, came from a woman named Consolacion Ediscul, who is listed under an address in Happy Valley, Hong Kong. The Washington Times said on Monday J Street’s executive director Jeremy Ben Ami confirmed Ms. Esdicul had donated the money “in multiple wire transfers at the behest of” a man named William, or Bill, Benter...Mr. Benter is an active member of the Rotary Club, and through an organization called The Advantage Trust...The Advantage Trust isn’t listed in Hong Kong by the Inland Revenue Department or in the U.S. by the IRS as a charity, and there appears to be no corporate website, meaning it could be a private trust of some sort, for example.
Mr. Benter has a history of donations consistent with his connection to J Street. According to political campaign contribution records, in 2008 Mr. Benter and Acusis were listed as donors to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and the Democratic Party of Virginia. This year, The Advantage Trust donated to Israeli-based organization Rabbis for Human Rights.
The Weekly Standard:
The pro-Israel community had always been fearful of J Street’s motives and intentions, and now we know the truth – they are the deceitful anti-Israel activists we’d thought them to be. But it also turns out that they are clownishly incompetent.
And there's lots more. Like Jennifer Rubin:
It turns out that the left is in bed with the Israel-haters (or, more precisely, are themselves Israel-haters) and there is no real market for an alternative to the genuine pro-Israel groups.
Just as the dreaded neocons said from the beginning. So liberals are bummed that J Street is a fraud – and furious that we on the right had it pegged all along.
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